our story | theology | we believe | leadership

our story

"In the beginning..."

...we kicked around several ideas: start a coffeehouse, buy and run a bar, do a live ‘Letterman’ style show.

After many weeks of prayer, a group of people began meeting in homes in September 1999, a gathering that would eventually be dubbed 'Bliss.'

In February 2000, the young group decided to start having a worship service on Sunday nights. The M.O.: spare, un-produced, rough, exuberant, and real. The corporate worship time was named "fluid," a reference to its unstructured approach.

Since the beginning, fluid has partnered with Cornerstone Community Church, using their meeting facilities for the worship time. Originally in Maitland, the meeting place moved to the Slovak Gardens and finally to its current location in Oviedo.

In Feb 2004, Bliss took a major step in its unscripted evolution. After many months of prayer the Elders decided that due to the steady growth in attendance, Bliss would be split into three different groups meeting in three different locations. Four years later in June of 2008, again after much prayer, the Elders made the decision to create a fourth group.

And now here we stand.

theology

God
We believe there is one God, existing co-eternally and co-equally in three distinct persons: the Father, Son, & Holy Spirit. God is the creator of all that exists, and He alone is worthy of worship.

Jesus Christ
We believe in the full deity and humanity of Jesus Christ and the only Son of God. According to the scriptures, He was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, performed miracles, died on a cross as the substitutionary atonement for man's sin, rose bodily from the dead, ascended to heaven and one day will physically return to earth in power and glory for believers in Christ.

Holy Spirit
We believe in the deity and personality of the Holy Spirit who offers regeneration to unbelievers, indwells believers, and enables us to live godly lives.

Bible
We believe that the Bible represents God's communication to people, is complete as written, and is authoritative for our lives today.

Church
We believe that God established a gathering of followers of Jesus, to be "the called out ones." This concept is identified in the English language as "the church," and is described as the "Body of Christ" with Jesus as the head.

Salvation
We believe that man was created in the image of God, but because of sin, was alienated from God. Jesus is the only way to Salvation and only through the grace of God can a person be restored to a right relationship with God and be assured of eternity in heaven.

we believe...

• God sets the definition; it’s not about being right, it’s about being Biblical.
  
• We were created for a real relationship with a real God.
  
• Submission to God and His will is critical for our lives.
  
• Church is a spiritual community based on the Bible living in modern culture.
  
• To love one another as Jesus loved us is His new commandment for the church.
  
• Unity (believers existing in harmony) is Jesus’ prayer for the church
  
• The church has a dual mission of edifying believers and reaching out to bring non-believers to God. Both parts are equally important.
  
• Investing in relationships within the church is vital.
  
• Creating a safe place (respect, honesty, humility and communicating truth with love) is important to our relationships with one another.
  
• Seek first to understand, then to be understood. (St. Francis of Assisi)
  
• The sum total of relationships is not about fulfilling obligations.
  
• Sharing God’s love is the mission for the individual believer.
  
• People matter because they were created by God.
  
• We respect and accept believers and non-believers alike who wish to journey along with us in the pursuit of a relationship with God.
  
• Our lives should show evidence of our growth in God.
  
• Because God owns everything we believe in simple living.
  
• The worship of God is more than music and can be in different forms.
  
• Prayer is a necessity.
  
• A believer should be in constant communion with God.
  
• God has us in his hands.
  
• God can use what the world sees as weak or foolish.
  
• Excellence is worth the price.
  
• Devotion to one another is a command, not an option.
  
• Letting it be what it becomes rather than forcing our own ideas upon God.
  

leadership

Carl E. Creasman Jr is the founder and "senior pastor" of Numinous Church. A fourth generation pastor, Carl has been in active ministry for over 23 years. A Christian since age 7, Carl was active in church service in several areas including choirs, Bible drill, RA ministry, youth & college leadership. In college, Carl participated in various groups like Baptist Student Union, The Wesley Foundation, and Campus Crusade for Christ. After finishing his Masters of Arts in History from Auburn University, Carl worked with New Life Ministry in Raleigh, NC on a traveling evangelistic mission team whose primary focus was children. During this time, Carl ministered in Alabama, Florida, Texas, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky and North Carolina while completing his Masters of Divinity in 1992 from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Since Seminary, God has had Carl serving in various roles such as a traveling communicator, evangelist, retreat speaker and youth pastor. His gifting is in the area of communication and since the mid-1980s, Carl has continued to pursue this calling as a communicator for God via several avenues. His travel as a speaker has taken him from Seattle to North Carolina and New Mexico to the Northeast. One wonderful memory was preaching at a church in Concrab, Haiti while on a mission service trip. Carl also communicates via the written word and through music. As a musician and worship leader, Carl has participated in the release of 6 CDs, both with the worship band of Numinous and a band formed from within the ministry, Anodyne. Carl's writings are evident here on the site and in other self-published books. Finally, in keeping with his theological position of "blooming where you are planted," Carl continues to be involved in ministry opportunities around the Central Florida area with groups like Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Intervarsity and Baptist Campus Ministry. To that same end, Carl has been serving as a professor of History at Valencia Community College since 2002.

For Numinous, we established a group of leaders, and we then empowered those leaders to actually lead. We call our leaders “elders.” For us, the title “elder” does not carry baggage or mythical undertones but rather is merely a word that was in vogue when the Bible was written. Even though we could have used other names, we chose “elder” as a nod to our ancient nature of our faith. What do they do? Well, we try to do exactly what the Bible teaches about leadership for the community, that the elders (as the Bible calls them) are to shepherd (protect, guide and feed) the flock. That is a simple rendition obviously, but it gets at it. While there are many leaders in Numinous, the elders though are in a different class. They have an overseeing role, mostly for the souls and well-being, for the group.